Month: June 2022

This article contains minor spoilers for How To Kill Your Family and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. Technology has always shaped literature. One of the most interesting aspects of Dracula is the way it segues from the more traditional framework of Jonathan Harker’s diary entries and the letters between Lucy and Mina, to developing
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Before getting to books about the Pequot War, it’s important to give some background. The Pequot are a Connecticut Native American tribe and are members of the federally recognized Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, as well as four other state-recognized Connecticut tribes, including the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation and the Wisconsin Brothertown Indians. They were also part
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We’re all too familiar with the age-old saying “so many books, so little time.” And so, many of us listen to audiobooks to make time for reading. But time is oh so precious, and we don’t want to end up with a bad audiobook and a terrible listening experience. So what really separates a great
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The day has finally come. You’ve been told that you are the only one who can stop what is to come. You must fulfill the prophecy and take up the mantle of the chosen one. You are destined to save everyone from the peril that awaits; to put your life on the line and ultimately
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What is a superhero without a supervillain? Not much. Some supervillains, however, are worth a lot more than others. I have therefore decided to spotlight some lesser-known villains. Are they underrated gems or irredeemable losers who deserve to be forgotten? You decide! Today’s subject: the Living Monolith! Origins First appearing in X-Men #54-58 in a
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When putting together the book censorship news this week, it felt like each story was trying to one up the next, ranging from the ridiculous to the truly chilling. We’re seeing an increase in lawsuits and legal involvement, from residents suing officials for banning books, to parents suing teachers for reading LGBTQ books in class,
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I’m lucky: I live in the suburbs of a large city. There are two independent bookstores within a ten minute drive from my house, and several more chain and independent bookstores within 30. If I want to have a perfect book discovery moment, I can make it happen without much trouble.  But the thing is,
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Every writer has to start somewhere. Maggie Shipstead’s bestselling 2021 novel, Great Circle, earned a place on the Booker Prize shortlist, but the road to such success is often long. In Shipstead’s case, as she explains in the acknowledgments of You Have a Friend in 10A, her path began with stories written while studying at
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Smart, tenacious teen sleuths star in three remarkable mystery novels. These detectives have curious minds, a knack for sussing out secrets and a thirst for justice.  ★ Hollow Fires In Samira Ahmed’s powerful Hollow Fires, 17-year-old aspiring journalist Safiya Mirza describes herself as “a giddy teen rom-com cliché, but with more panic and terror churning in
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Every Dog in the Neighborhood Louis lives with his determined, free-spirited grandmother. When neither she nor City Hall can tell him how many dogs live in their neighborhood, Louis takes Grandma’s advice to heart: “Sometimes if you want something done you’ve just got to do it yourself.”  Louis decides to go door to door to
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Nothing ever happens in Ebbing—until one horrific weekend. Local Gone Missing follows a variety of residents in the tiny English seaside town, from an inquisitive cleaning lady with a dark past to vacationers with a secret agenda. It all comes to a head during a chaotic musical festival, one that ends with dual overdoses, a
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In between the smoky melodies of “Walk Between the White Lines,” there lies a simple sense of Americana that stands as one of the most important elements of Chris St. John’s new album Fly Away. It’s neither forced nor filled with bravado, and yet it’s undeniably one of the most entrancing components of this tracklist, defining
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We’ve all had enough of shooting stars. The incandescent young talent blazing across the pop culture sky before soon sputtering out to a dull or depressing conclusion is a familiar tale. We hear far more about the talents that promise much before they stop panning out and the spotlight turns onto another flavor of the
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